Smarter Artist Smart Links: Masterminds and Routines

This has been a good week for me, production-wise. I’m deep into editing what will be my very first published novel. I’ve got a pretty fixed deadline (you’ll understand when you see the title), and I’m about 99.9% sure I can hit it. But that last .01%? Let’s just say that this week’s links are helping:

The best routines are reduced and reiterated — Do you have your writing and production routine down? I kind of have this strong revulsion to inefficiency, so I loved this post. “Look for areas where you can cut anything that’s not essential.” Yes. This. Absolutely.

Comments

Thanks for the links Amy. I’m beginning to realise just how important masterminds and communities are, and look forward to hearing more about this Stone Table (#excited). I’m juggling so many balls at the moment, between work, fiction and freelance writing, so my takeaway is focus on getting one task done at a time…

A great selection there, Amy! I myself am just teaming up with a friend of mine so we can hold ourselves more accountable on our current projects. This week, I will finish getting a Facebook page up for myself. I’m just starting out and so far, a Facebook page just seemed pretentious because I have a very small readership. But I’m posting a piece of flash fiction on my website every month and so I do need a way to publicize that more.

I’m not going to finish anything this week, but I’m going to keep working on the second children’s book I’m doing with Patrick Stemp.

Excited to finally getting things done, instead of thinking about them, or talking about them – but actually doing them 🙂 We have the book scheduled to be published late June. So I have to finish up artwork, and after that setup the various versions of the book. It helps to work towards a deadline and have a partner to work with.

But I’m also looking forward to reading all the new canon books in Engine world. Weren’t they meant to be published in March?

And my PS didn’t work so well. I was hinting at what I assume is a spelling error in the end of the post. But I got an unexpected bonus, since I was wondering about what the title could be (and now it’s pretty obvious) 😉 So thank you.

A little mastermind tip – If you’re in one, please don’t post about it on social media where your fans can see it.

I was a fitness ‘fan’ before going pro, and when the people I was following and learning from announced that they were just attending a mastermind group, they lost fans. People are ok with you learning, but when you announce it like that, you look like a marketer learning to sell more.

Same in publishing. Some of the people I have followed as a fan have started to break that wall between themselves and their fans.

Also, the term ‘mastermind’ is pretty pretentious to a fan.

That being said, you should probably be in one, but just be careful about broadcasting it. 😉

If your audience is other smart artists and creative entrepreneurs, I think maybe a blog post about how to prepare for a mastermind, or how to find a mastermind might be helpful. …. In a more general kind of resource-y way.

But if your audience is really anything else I don’t see any reason to broadcast that you’re doing it.

Serialized Fiction

Right-click here to download the MP3 Click here to subscribe via iTunes Sometimes authors struggle with the very elements that bring their stories to life and add action, excitement, and drama. Today, Johnny, Sean, and Dave talk about how to write compelling and honest dialogue, fight scenes, and arguments that won’t leave your characters feeling […]